Author Seth Abramson: ‘Very Hard To Read This Book And Not See Impeachment Proceedings’ In 2019

(CBS LOCAL) — Two years into the presidency of Donald J. Trump, questions still loom about the administration’s relationship with Russia. Many, like author Seth Abramson, have been fascinated by this topic.

After releasing a thread of tweets in March 2017 about President Trump’s foreign policy speech at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C., Abramson decided to write a book that chronologically reviews the case for collusion between Trump and the Russians. The Simon & Schuster book called “Proof Of Collusion How Trump Betrayed America” starts all the way back in the late 1980s because the author believes it is important for the readers to know about Trump’s financial history with Russia.

“It’s important for people to understand what Donald Trump Jr. said in 2008 at an Manhattan financial conference. A disproportionate percentage of Trump Organization clients are Russian oligarchs,” he told CBS Local. “They have paid him hundreds of millions and billions of dollars since the 1990s in rents and revenue for the Trump Organization real estate properties. Vladimir Putin is able to direct his oligarchs. He can turn of the spigot of revenue going to the Trump Organization.”

While Trump Jr.’s name is at the center of this conversation, Abramson says more focus should be put on President Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump.

“Ivanka is a third rail in the Trump Russia investigation and Robert Mueller knows it. You can just look at the witnesses in this case and the shape of the investigation and say all things being equal, Ivanka Trump would be one of your top witnesses,” he said. “She is probably Donald Trump’s top advisor. She is involved in his business transactions and she herself had contact with those who are considered to be agents of the Kremlin. She hasn’t been spoken to and if Robert Mueller made a move to question her, I think Donald Trump would be unpredictable when it came to Mueller’s employment status.

After Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replaced him with Matthew Whitaker, many wonder if this decision will impact the longevity of Mueller’s investigation. The new storylines each day are building up to what could be one of the important years in our history according to Abramson.

“The goal of the book is to prepare American citizens for 2019, which I think is going to be one of the most historic years in U.S. political history. We’re going to have a comprehensive, transparent and professional investigation into Trump Russia collusion in Congress,” he said. “It’s always difficult to predict anything involving Donald Trump. It seems that based on the evidence compiled in ‘Proof Of Collussion’ impossible that there would be anything other than the beginning of impeachment proceedings at some point in 2019. It’s very hard to read this book and not see impeachment proceedings in the coming year.”